Smiles
by GoAwayAnna
Summary: Did you ever see something so cute it made you cry?


_Did you ever see something so cute it made you cry?_

It had been Kate's first day back after having Lily and it had been a long one. Loads of paperwork, calls from the mayor about their high-profile case, keeping up with said case via Ryan and Espo (who were more interested in pictures of their niece than work), and texts to Castle to check on the baby. The entire day was clouded by a slight sense of anxiety and aching boobs that required frequently closing the blinds and locking the door to her office to pump milk for her little girl. All Kate wanted was to get home to her little family. Her perfect little family.

She walked faster than normal from the parking garage to their building and smiled at Eduardo's sympathetic nod as she rushed by him to the elevator. The whole ride up to the loft, her sense of excitement grew; she felt like bursting by the time she made it to the front door. When the door finally opened and she laid eyes on her baby girl, the relief was instantaneous. It felt like her emotion was flowing from her body like a river, but when she saw Lily there was no rush to pick her up.

Castle had Lily laid on a blanket on the floor while he began preparing dinner, but paused to make his way to his wife and place a kiss to her lips. "Welcome home," he murmured. Then more loudly, he added, "We missed you."

Beckett absolutely beamed. "I missed you guys, too. So much, I can't believe how much." When she looked back at her baby girl, Lily was looking up at her with a look of pure joy on her face. She was kicking and waving her arms; she looked so excited she could scream.

"Hi, baby," Kate cooed. "Did you miss your mama?"

Lily Jo Castle had grown for nine months in her belly, had tried for twenty-two hours to come out of her belly, and Kate Beckett had not taken her eyes off of her for one second of it. . .until today. It seemed as if Beckett were trying to make up for that now; her eyes were glued to Lily, roving over her tiny little body, her ecstatic expression, and the adorable outfit Castle had put her in.

The outfit screamed Alexis and Beckett was so immensely happy that her step-daughter squealed with excitement when she found out there was a baby on the way. Alexis had been amazing ever since, coming over a few times a week to visit, calling when she didn't visit, buying clothes and even diapers. She was a lifesaver.

Kate was pulled out of her head when Lily cooed and when Kate refocused on her daughter, her heart leapt into her throat. "Castle!" she called into the kitchen

"What is it?" he asked, not looking up from the pot on the stove.

"Babe, come here, hurry! She's smiling!"

There was some thundering as Castle dropped what he was doing to come see his baby girl's latest milestone. He saw the look on Lily' face, smiling sweetly at her mama, and then turned his attention to said mama.

Beckett was beaming at their girl, gently poking her belly and fussing over her. She was breathtaking. Just as Castle was about to tell her this, Beckett burst into tears.

Castle fell into shock before snapping back to reality. Beckett had picked Lily up and was burying her face in Lily's tiny body, small sobs breaking through the stillness.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Castle asked, a little clueless.

Taking a few seconds to collect herself, Beckett removed her face from her baby's shoulder and looked at her husband. "I just love her so much, Castle! She's so beautiful and her outfit is so cute and she smiled at me when I got home."

Understanding dawned on Castle and he smiled at her. He had had his fair share of these moments with Alexis and a few with Lily, too. "It's just. . ." Beckett continued, "when she smiled at me—" she took a fortifying breath, "I know she loves me, Castle, but she likes me."

He tried desperately not to make a face. Of course their daughter loves her mother, likes her. "This," Beckett continued, "her little smile, she's just everything, Castle."

"I know, Kate," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her hair while she cuddled Lily closer.

Huffing a laugh through her drying tears, Kate said, "Do you think I can still blame this little breakdown on hormones?"

As he made his way back to the kitchen to finish dinner, he chuckled and said, "For the mother of my child, of course."

Rolling her eyes, Kate cradled her baby to her chest, got up off the floor and sat on the couch. Lily was still smiling up at her; Kate didn't put her down the whole night.

 **AN:** Found an adorable pic on tumblr and I immediately thought of this little scene. It didn't turn out like I expected, but I hope you like it!

Link: image/164826930043


End file.
